THE BOOK OF DEVIATIONS

Transcription

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© Don Karr 1984, 1993-4, 2006-7. Appendix added: 2011. Email: dk0618@yahoo.com.
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INTRODUCTION
The Book of Deviations [BD] § I appeared in Collected Articles on the Kabbalah, VOLUME ONE (Ithaca:
KoM, 1985) as “The Book of Deviations: an outline of basic concepts and terms of Kabbalah presented in
the light of the Kabbalah of Maat” (pp. 1-11).
BD §§ II and III were added to BD in 1993. The material in these sections was drawn from The Notebooks
of ‫פ‬-416 (1982).
BD §§ I, II, and III were included in the 1994-5 edition of The Kabbalah of Maat, along with a three-page
“Commentary on the Book of Deviations,” which had been compiled in 1993. Some additions from this
commentary appear {in brackets} in the following version of the text.
Appended is a facsimile of the 1994-5 edition of “Document #3,” which originally appeared in Collected
Articles on the Kabbalah, VOLUME TWO (Ithaca: KoM, 1985) as “Great Tree: A Selection of Kabbalistic
Diagrams.”
THE UNIVERSE BENEATH NUKVA’S FOOT
© Don Karr 1986, oil on canvas
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(1984)
I
ISAIAH 40:18
To whom then will ye liken HYHVH? OR what likeness will ye compare unto...?
Zohar 1:140a
HYHVH finds delight in the soul and in the body, as the soul resembles the supernal soul, and the
body is worthy to be allied to the supernal essences, for the image of the body is part of the supernal
symbolism.
Etz Hayim 11:6
The whole universe functions according to the principle of parthenogenesis.
Anthropomorphism is one of the glosses used in developing retainable notions of the numenal. HYHVH can
be thought of as the components of one deific being in organic unity, or as five deific beings in dynamic
interrelation. Body parts are attributed to such beings: “the eye of...,” “the hand of....” Mortal expressions are
attributed to such beings: “the love of...,” “the wrath of....” More than this, however, is the notion that we are
of the image of HYHVH, but we must realize that this notion of likeness is a mere convenience, as
aggrandizing as it is merciful.
Requisite to our approaching Kabbalah are the following fixed terms regarding an ultimate deity:
Derech ha Shem I.1:6
It {‫ }היהיא‬exists.
It is perfect.
It is necessary.
It is absolutely independent.
It is simple.
It is not {‫}לא‬.
We choose whether to make of these terms monumental truths or just rules of the game. The terms are set.
There is an infinite out of which all came. In anthropomorphic imagery, then, this infinite gave birth to what
is, in distinction to what is not. It moved within itself to conceive.
One map of the intermediate stages between the infinite and the temporal is the tree of life. This, too, is a
metaphoric device, into which numerous other schemes can be fit. The tree, with its basic ten stages and the
twenty-two paths which interconnect these, can be discussed not only in the vocabulary of kabbalistic
abstraction but in the terminologies of astrology, psychology, tarot, tantra, colors, various pantheons—
indeed, any set of components might be accommodated to fit.
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Before entering into a discussion of the tree, thought of both as the intermediary which is set between the
hidden deity and the phenomenal world and as the scheme which constitutes the life workings of the
revealed deity, we shall start at the beginning with the first condescensions of the deity toward creation.
INITIAL MANIFESTATION AND THE CIRCULAR ASPECT OF THE SEFIROT
Before anything was manifest, all was in potential. Everything was infinite. It could not be said that
everything was within the deity because there was no such thing as within or without. All was absolute,
infinite sameness.
In order to express a condition or to isolate a form, the infinite had to withdraw. It had to remove itself from
a given spot. So the infinite withdrew from a certain area in its midst, forming a vacuole within the
otherwise undifferentiated infinite. This was the space for creation, for all of the myriad differentiations, to
exist. Even so, this space was not entirely empty, for a residue of what had previously filled it remained.
The withdrawal, or contraction, of the infinite is called tzimtzum. The space is called tehiru. The residue is
called reshimu.
This space was perfectly round: a circle or a sphere. The contraction was effected equally in all directions
around an empty middle point.
The infinite re-entered this space in the form of a line. The upper part of the line extended from the infinite;
the lower part extended to the midpoint of the spherical space. This line was like a thin pipe through which
light from the infinite flowed into the space in which creation was to be. Slowly at first, the line started to
flatten. Then, more rapidly, it dispersed and became like a wheel. This wheel rounded out and detached itself
from the absolute sameness out of which it came. If, at this point, the wheel had touched the infinite, it
would have bled back into sameness with it. Only the original line attached the great wheel to the infinite.
The wheel eventually became ten concentric circles, called attributes (middot). They are the means of
supervision and administration through which measures of light are channeled into creation. The circles are
also called counts (sefirot) to express that they are of fixed amounts and of a limited number. There are ten
counts.
Found here, in the initial stages of creation, are the first instances of the separation of limitation (din—
judgment) and outpouring (rahamin—compassion, or hesed—mercy).
{An excerpt from the commentary:
When the infinite contracted itself, not all of its substance was withdrawn; a residue, reshimu, remained. Reshimu, then, is the first
substance which is other than the infinite; latent within it are
1. the desire to differentiate
2. the desire to limit
3. the desire to separate
Here is the root of all damage. Yet, here too is the foundation of existence. Lo, it was the very impulses found in the reshimu that the
infinite desired to extricate from itself once it had corrupted itself with the thought of something other than itself. In the infinite,
thought becomes itself.}
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THE FORMATION OF THE TEN CIRCLES
As the line was extended, it coiled around to become a circle. It extended again and coiled to form a second
circle. This continued until there were ten circles.
The first circle, closest to the infinite, is called “crown” (keter). The second is called “wisdom” (hokhmah).
The third is “understanding” (binah). The fourth is “mercy” (hesed); the fifth is “justice,” or “judgment”
(din); the sixth is “beauty” (tiferet); the seventh is “victory” (nezah); the eighth is “glory” (hod); the ninth is
“foundation” (yesod); the midst of these is sealed with “knowledge” (da’at). “Knowledge” appears between
“understanding” and “mercy” in the scheme of concentric circles.
These circles include all aspects of all manifest worlds. These original ten are the prototype of all creations.
It is here that the process of infinite division begins.
The ten circles are but one aspect of the sefirot.
THE ASPECT OF THE FIVE FACES AND THE TREE OF LIFE
The ten circles are identified with the first of the five faces (parzufim). Inside of the initial ten circles, the
other four faces are formed, each consisting of ten circles. These four are manifest in a particular sequence,
the plot of which connects with the emanation and creation of the tree of life, which is a configuration of the
sefirot in three pillars—left, right, and middle.
The first face (parzuf) is also identified with that aspect of the infinite which wills things to occur—things
such as tzimtzum, the re-entry by the line, or, as in the aspect about to be described, the evocation of primal
form.
The second aspect begins with tzimtzum, as did the first. The space formed was again a circle, but this circle
began to manifest the strains of polarization, becoming diamond shaped, with upper, lower, left, and right
points. The top half of this diamond was the primal form of will, given the elemental ascription of fire (shin
‫)ש‬. The lower half was the impression of this fire, which is a reflection of the will cast into the medium of
the infinite. To this impression is given the elemental ascription of water (mem ‫)מ‬. Between the two, at their
meeting place, is created air (aleph ‫)א‬.
Thus, there were four components in the midst of the infinite:
1. not, in which the will arose to progress with creation beyond tzimtzum, being the first face, A”A - Arik
Anpin, the will of wills.
2. the vessel of the will, the element fire, being the face aba, father, the will.
3. the vessel of the will’s impression upon the surrounding infinite, the element water, being the face
aima, mother.
4. that which is created at the meeting place of aba and aima, the element air, being the face Z”O - Zeir
Anpin, the son.
At this stage of creation, the son (Z”O - ‫)א‬, rather than mediating between and harmonizing aba and aima,
separated them. A”A reacted to this woeful condition by extending nukva (beth ‫)ב‬, the daughter, out of its
own nature and substance to rectify the state of creation.
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Nukva is the fifth face.
Nukva extended from the top to the base of the creation as it was. By her actions and those of A”A, the
universe was set into the form of the tree of life in three pillars, called “the aspects of rectitude”:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
A”A remained at the top of the mid-pillar as the sefirah keter.
Aba was set at the head of the right pillar as the sefirah hokhmah.
Aima was set at the head of the left pillar as the sefirah binah.
Z”O was expelled from his position and identification with aleph (air) and lured into tiferet.
Nukva completed the tree by assuming the sefirah yesod, then rose to the sefirah da’at as a permanent
station in reflection of A”A.
THE FIVE WORLDS
ISAIAH 43:7
Even everything which is called my name: for I have created it (barativ) for my glory, I have formed it
(yezartiv); yea, I have made it (asitiv).
Sha’are Kedusha 3:6
Below it there are four universes: azilut, beriyah, yetzirah, and asiyah. Below them is the physical
world, consisting of the elements. The elements and their spiritual counterparts are divided just like the
ten sefirot.
The five worlds bear a relationship to the five faces, but, unlike the faces, the worlds get progressively
denser as they descend.
The first of the five worlds is that which corresponds to A”A. This is the world of the hidden lights, or
flashes (tzahtzahot). There are three such flashes: one retained by this first world, one which is the source of
azilut, the second world, and one which is the source of briah, the third world.
These second and third worlds are so bound together that they are virtually inseparable. Azilut is the world in
which the activities of the faces take place. Briah is the world in which the results, or impressions, of these
actions are formed and recorded. While functionally inseparable, there appears between these two worlds a
curtain or covering (massah or prassa) which is a grim residue affected by the separation which Z”O caused
between aba and aima.
Azilut corresponds to aba. Briah corresponds to aima.
The fourth world is yezirah, which corresponds to Z”O. This world echoes that which is established in briah,
but in a denser form. It is this world which has a direct bearing on the individual spirit.
The fifth world is asiah, which corresponds to nukva in the phase which preceded her ascension to da’at,
being her position upon founding the base of the tree in yesod. Asiah has a direct bearing on the individual
instinct.
Below these five is the physical world, or elemental realm, which reflects the movements and stresses of all
of the worlds above it. In the physical world are all of the powers phenomenally actualized. It is in this realm
that both the intentions of the deity and the intentions of mortals find their expression.
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The physical world is associated with malkut, which at one time was treated as one among the sefirot.
Likutei Amarim 2:9
The life-force in physical action is as cogent as the life-force in the letters of speech (asiah), which in
turn is as cogent as the life-force in the letters of thought (yezirah), which in turn is as cogent as the lifeforce and level of the emotion attributes from which thought is derived (briah), which again is as cogent
as the life-force and level and degree of wisdom (hokhmah), understanding (binah), and knowledge
(da’at), the source of the attributes (middot).
THE SEFIROT
Keter is the intermediary between the infinite and the sefirot, even as A”A is an intermediary between the
infinite and the faces. It is the root and soul of the sefirot, yet remote from them.
Zohar 3:288b (Idra Zutta)
It is a head unlike any other; no one knows, nor can anyone know, what is in that head, for it is not
attached to either wisdom or understanding.... For this reason is the holy ancient one (keter) called
nothing....
Hokhmah represents the act of the beginning of creation. It is not the beginning of existence, for here
existence is, as yet, a potential. It is not creation but the will to create. It is an activity, but still nothing.
Zohar 1:30b
Bereshith (in the beginning). The word reshith (beginning) refers to the supernal wisdom; the letter beth
(i.e., bayith, “house”) designates the world, which is watered from that stream which enters it....
Binah is the establishment of creation, being the expansion and extension of hokhmah. By binah is hokhmah
formed, for it is the impression of the activity of the will which is cast upon the medium of the infinite. The
agent of the infinite, in this context, is keter. That portion of the infinite which gathers the impression
becomes binah. Hence, there is established a basic substantive affinity between keter and binah.
Da’at stabilizes the interaction of hokhmah and binah. Da’at is also in deep affinity with keter; da’at serves
as keter’s revelation. Da’at, too, functions as an intermediary, but between the supernals (keter, hokhmah,
and binah) and the middot (the remaining six sefirot). In relation to da’at as revealed, the supernal sefirot are
concealed—hidden as nothing: AYN - ‫[ אין‬A = keter, Y = hokhmah, and N = binah].
Hesed and din reiterate the action of tzimtzum, for hesed is the merciful outpouring, whereas din is
limitation. Hesed is thus thought of as kindness; din is thought of as law, or judgment (restriction, like
tzimtzum).
Tiferet compounds hesed and din. If da’at is the soul of the middot, tiferet is the body of the middot.
Hesed, din, and tiferet represent the essences of the middot—the polarization of hesed and din, and the
synthesis of their stress, tiferet. Nezah, hod, and yesod develop these essences into hosts of activity both in
extension and reflection of the sefirot above. Yesod is a most important sefirah, for it is the foundation of the
world.
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OTHER ASPECTS OF THE SEFIROT
When the sefirot are in the form of ten concentric circles, they are called iggulim.
When the sefirot are in the form of a body divided into organs they are called yosher:
hokhmah/binah
da’at
hesed/din
tiferet
nezah/hod
yesod
-
brains
mouth
arms
torso
legs
genitals
Each sefirah is divided into orot (lights) and kelim (vessels). The orot are emanations from the infinite
which are not changed throughout the worlds. Their apparent levels and distinctions come from their kelim.
Since the light of the absolute is infinite and unchanging, it is the purpose of tzimtzum to create kelim.
In a relation similar to the orot and kelim are the qualities of pnimiyut (inwardness) and chitzoniyut
(outwardness). The pnimiyut is the innermost core and essence of a sefirah. The chitzoniyut is the outermost
aspect.
THE BREAKING OF THE VESSELS
The breaking of the vessels is an image parallel to the failure of Z”O to mediate and harmonize. Z”O is often
identified with the six lower sefirot as a group: the middot. These are the vessels which shattered upon their
initial reception of orot. This put the universe in disarray and forced the fixing of the end (din, rigid
structure) before its time. Tikkun (reparation) was affected by nukva, who is the shekhinah (presence) and
the messiah. It is she who set the universe in balance so that lower reflected upper and left reflected right.
This process reflects the transition of the sefirot from iggulim to yosher. Through yosher, nukva was able to
restore most of the fragments of the shattered vessels of Z”O. That portion of the fragments which were not
restored became kelipot (shells, or husks) of the sitra ahra (other side). The kelipot conceal sparks of the
infinite light with four layers. The sparks can be released by acts which imitate those acts performed by
nukva, who extended from the highest to the lowest. Such an act (called birur, extrication) occurs when one
of us approaches the kelipot in the knowledge (da’at) of their concealed divinity. This brings about a lesser
tikkun in reflection of nukva’s great tikkun.
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THE FIVE PARTS OF THE SOUL
Our own extension from the highest to the lowest involves the integration of our five parts of soul. These
five bear relation to the five faces and to the sefirot:
yehidah
hiah
neshama
ruah
nefesh
A”A
aba/aima
nukva tikkun
Z”O
nukva birur
keter
hokhmah/binah
da’at
tiferet/middot
yesod
Yehida is the spark of the infinite contained in our deepest parts. It cannot be apprehended directly.
Hiah is the life-force generated by binah in relation to hokhmah. It cannot be apprehended directly.
Neshama is the part of the soul through which notions of the hiah and yehidah may come. It is the
intermediary between the universal and the personal.
Ruah is the personal life-force and spirit in a complex of three phases: aleph, tiferet, and mem (mind, self,
and image).
Nefesh is the soul of instinct and feeling. It connects broadly but obscurely with neshama. Nefesh is the lifeforce which powers the body (guf).
Etz Hayim, Branch 5.
...from the mysticism of the ear is extended the breath and wind from within and without. This is the
real neshama; the breath from the nose is ruah and that from the mouth is of the nefesh.
{Excerpts from the commentary:
With all of the divisions on which we base our perceptions, recall that there is no change in the infinite whatsoever.
There are two ways to attribute the parts of the soul to the sefirot: neither is true; both are true. The attribution preferred is based on
whether one considers keter as transcendent or integral to the tree and its workings.
If one considers keter as transcendent, then hokhmah is parallel to yehidah and binah is parallel to hiah. Hence, hokhmah is the
absconded “body” out of which the sparks of souls are extricated, each the result of its own tzimtzum. Here, yehidah is the motivator
stirring hiah. This configuration assumes separation from the source.
If one considers each human as a total universe, then keter is yehidah as born to the entire world above it. Hiah, then, is the stress
between hokhmah and binah, as denoted by the shin path with runs between them, called by some “life force.” Here, hiah is a
development of yehidah. This configuration assumes perpetual—even if hidden—connection with the source.
The part of the soul called neshamah is parallel to da’at and the hidden power (or gate = sha’ar) within (or behind) it: ‫ ללנא‬or ‫לל אנא‬.
In this place is the deepest mystery of the mind. “It moved within itself to conceive.” This is where desire and image are [still]
blended as one. This is the seat of perception and presence.
The part of the soul called ruah is parallel to the complex including tiferet, which includes hesed, din, nezah, and hod. This is the
“psychological” arena. Because this part of the soul contains a parallel to tiferet, it is vulnerable to the influence of the sitre ahra, the
“other side.” Woe to the person who believes that ruah is himself or herself.
“…behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.” —JOB 28:28}
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II
The infinite cannot be named, but certain words are used to refer to it: en sof (nothing), illat ha-illot (cause
of causes), etc.
In some schemes, the infinite and keter are considered to be the same. In other schemes, the infinite is queen,
while keter is the elder. Or the infinite is not revealed, while keter is revealed. The infinite is cause; keter is
caused.
In the infinite are the roots of keter. In keter are the roots of emanation, and these roots are the ten tzahtzahot
(flashes). These ten predict the sefirot of emanation. These flashes arise within the mahshavah (deep
thought) of keter.
There is another mahshava: hokhmah, or shallow thought—that is, hokhmah is keter’s shallow thought.
Some say that there are only three flashes, one flash for each of the supernals (keter, hokhmah, and
binah, though some say the three are for hokhmah, binah, and da’at).
Within these flashes is all that ever may exist.
Rabbi Moses Cordovero insisted that there were three flashes bound as inextricably together as thinker,
thinking, and thought; they seem to be three, yet none can be removed from the other two.
Keter contains the holy brain which cannot be known in any way. It is miraculous that it is known to exist at
all.
The deep thought, which remains in keter, partially consists of the will to become. The shallow thought,
which is passed to hokhmah, partially consists of the will to rule. Hence, the shallow thought, even within
the deity, is the root of all turmoil and separation.
The entire domain is shekhinah, personified as nukva, the daughter. The subjects are malkut, personified in
distorted and unnatural images of nukva as the bride.
The shekhinah is the presence of the infinite.
The shekhinah is that which brings all into actualization.
The shekhinah is undefilable. She is with us, however, to be drawn upon to extricate the vitality from disharmonious forces. [As we have stated, dis-harmonious forces have their root in hokhmah, for within
hokhmah are separations created by the will toward false (or artificial) unions.]
The shekhinah is the method and hope of reparation and reunion.
Zohar 3:130b:
The name of A”A, concealed from all, is alluded to in the Torah only once. This was when Z”O swore
to Abraham, “By myself I have sworn, (by) the word of the Lord” [GENESIS 22:16]. These were the
words of Z”O. Further, it was said, “By you shall Israel bless” [GENESIS 48:20]. This means the ideal
Israel. Further, it was said, “Israel, in whom I shall be glorified” [ISAIAH 49:3]. In both of these verses it
is clear that Z”O is called “Israel,” and that it is A”A that does so.
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A”A’s name for Z”O here is, of course, an insult, though it is not generally recognized as such. Indeed, the
insult cuts both ways.
A”A = keter; Z”O = tiferet.
Hokhmah is the second sefirah. Hokhmah means “wisdom,” “sophia.”
PROVERBS 8:22
The Lord created me (hokhmah) at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old.
JOB 28:28
And he (God) said to man, “Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom (hokhmah).”
1 ENOCH 48:1
...I saw the fountain of righteousness, which does not become depleted and is surrounded completely
by numerous fountains of wisdom. All the thirsty ones drink of the water and become filled with
wisdom.
The ironic import of these verses is clear enough. Elsewhere (2 Enoch 30:8), this “God” shows his distance
from wisdom by making commands to it.
Binah is the ultimate overseer of the great cycles (shemittot).
Each cycle is about 2000 years and has the character of one of the six lower sefirot. There is a seventh
cycle in the chain; it is 2000 years of utter silence and darkness, for everything returns to binah.
The procession of shemittot follows the characters of the sefirot in the following order:
The procession’s path resembles the shape of the letter lamed (‫)ל‬. We are now in the period with the
character of din.
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Tradition:
The powers of din (Kings of Edom) tried to construct worlds, but failed because they were dominated by
the quality of judgment. But Rabbi Moses Cordovero realized that these “aborted worlds” were not
really of din. He said they were of an aspect of keter-in-hokhmah, and that they failed, not because of
too much din, but because of too little. Also, the Kings of Edom dissolved because of their nearness to
the infinite.
Cordovero made a slight error—an error of implication. The hokhmah of which he spoke is not in keter
in the sense of being mingled with it or necessary to it. At the stage of coming-into-being spoken of
here, hokhmah was surrounded by the infinite (will of wills = keter), for there was nothing else. The
failed worlds were formed by hokhmah’s momentum (to evolve in upon itself). Of course, these worlds
failed because of hokhmah’s intrinsic imbalance, which made it “angry.” It was only when the infinite
replicated itself (in binah as tzelem) that the universe could form, though hokhmah still provided it with
distress and divorces.
Resurrecting the dead kings:
By cleansing the spikes of primordial waste caused by the failed worlds’ crumbling.... The spikes are
dangerous shards, but they may, in some instances, be re-assembled to form “likenesses” of un-divine
worlds—tessellations of the other side (sitra ahra).
In the old worlds (Edomite Kings) there was a mixture of [the potentially] good and [the potentially]
evil. They were not reflexively constructed [i.e., constructed with understanding], so they were
destroyed.
The universe is ruled by the shekhinah’s “right scepter,” or, better translated, “scepter of fairness” (PSALMS
45:7). This shows the blend of mercy and justice.
Her judgment flows from her love, yet her love tempers her judgment. The rule of justice is hers to
sustain or suspend. She exacts this rule through (the sefirot) hesed and din. The shekhinah held (holds)
back the flux that would prevent humankind its free will (a hopelessly complex pair of words). This
withholding is a certain compassionate manner of self-imposed subjugation (for in sustaining our free
will she must be “in our midst.” Remember that this subjugation is not necessary for the shekhinah; it is
a demonstration of her judgment and mercy).
There is nothing shekhinah must do.
In her withholding, yet nearness, is the mystery of how she sustains the world, both physically and
spiritually.
The body serves the mind, yet so too does the mind serve the body. And both of these serve the soul, and the
soul serves both. And these three (body, mind, and soul) serve the spirit, and the spirit serves the three. And
these four reify [give expression to] the spark, and the spark gives the being. All in service to all.
...or are they all put to death
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III
There is ultimately one great soul. This great soul is set into the pattern of a perfect body, with all of its
limbs and organs. This great soul is an aspect of the shekhinah, or nukva.
Each individual soul is a spark from the great soul. The nature of each soul is determined by which part of
the body of the great soul it is from—its root. One living being can contain as many as three sparks, usually
all from the same root.
There is also the occurrence of groups of people with an affinity of souls, or common root, working together
to regain their spiritual origin. The ultimate goal of all living beings is to reconstitute the whole of the great
soul.
However, though all life seems cut from one or another part of this great soul and is apparently separated
from it, the great soul lacks nothing and remains forever whole.
Sparks of souls cycle through many earthly “lifetimes,” some say as many as 1000. But human lives are
confused with other types of earthly existence. All things have some manner of soul, and all things evolve. It
is the nature of soul [and of matter, such as it is] to perpetually change in form yet remain the same in
essence.
Because of their source, all souls are good. By the fact of their existence, all souls are bad. The bad of a soul
is according to its degree of separation from its source [or root].
The great soul is an aspect of the shekhinah, who descends and ascends. It is she who structured the universe
as it is.
As tsade follows pe, so did shekhinah’s [nukva’s] building follow Z”O’s shattering.
*
*
*
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The mystery of the shekhinah is hidden. The Zohar betrays itself.
Zohar 3:256b (Raya Mehemna)
“It is a continual burnt offering” (NUMBERS 28: 6) [continual burnt offering = olat tamid - ‫]עלת תמיד‬
This is the shekhinah that (always, tamid) rises (olah) to the upper regions through this level (of Z”O,
tiferet), as it is said of it [in the Musaf Kedushah]:
“Evening and morning, every day, continually, and they say twice, in love, `Hear, O Israel.’”
She rises through the central pillar, which is continually with her, without any separation [between her
and it] whatsoever.
To what place does she rise? To that place from which she was made [in this case, emanated], which is
en sof [the infinite], and higher than any of the sefirot.
Hence, they have taught: the [continual] burnt offering rises [completely and all the way] to the highest
[place]. When the shekhinah rises, the sefirot cling to her [as she passes through them] and they ascend
along with her.
The shekhinah is of the same essence [substance] as the infinite; hence, all souls are of the same essence as
the infinite. This is, however, just one aspect of the soul.
*
*
*
The shekhinah was hewn from the infinite; each soul was hewn from the shekhinah. One day, all souls will
return to their places within the shekhinah and it will then be known that she is the messiah. So too will the
shekhinah/messiah return into the deeps of the infinite and all will be one.
The shadow of the infinite is ayin, no-thing; materiality is yesh, being. The whole of yesh aches for its
return to ayin.
The aspect of the infinite which extends is nukva. The aspect of the infinite which sustains is shekhinah.
*
*
*
There is but one essential substance.
*
*
*
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Andersen, F. I. “2 (Slavonic Apocalypse of) Enoch,” in
THE OLD TESTAMENT PSEUDEPIGRAPHA,
edited by James H. Charlesworth.
Garden City: Doubleday and Company, 1983.
Bland, Kalman P. “Neoplatonic and Gnostic Themes in R. Moses Cordovero’s Doctrine of Evil,” in
BULLETIN OF THE INSTITUTE OF JEWISH STUDIES, volume 3 (1975).
[R.] David ben Yehudah he-Hasid. THE BOOK OF MIRRORS: Sefer Mar’ot ha-Zove’ot.
translated and edited by Daniel C. Matt.
[BROWN JUDAIC STUDIES, # 30]
Chico [CA]: Scholars Press, 1982
Ginsburg, Elliot K. THE SABBATH IN CLASSICAL KABBALAH.
[SUNY SERIES IN JUDAICA: HERMENEUTICS, MYSTICISM, AND RELIGION]
Albany: State University of New York Press,1989.
Isaac, E. “1 (Ethiopic Apocalypse of) Enoch,” in
THE OLD TESTAMENT PSEUDEPIGRAPHA, edited by James H. Charlesworth.
Garden City: Doubleday and Company, 1983
*Kaplan, Aryeh. MEDITATION AND THE BIBLE.
New York: Samuel Weiser, Inc., 1978
*Luzzatto, Moshe Chaim. GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF THE KABBALAH.
Jerusalem: The Press of the Research Centre of Kabbalah, 1970
*_____________________. THE WAY OF GOD: Derech ha Shem.
translated by Aryeh Kaplan.
New York/Jerusalem: Feldheim Publishers, 1977
*Rosenberg, Roy A. THE ANATOMY OF GOD.
New York: Ktav Publishing House, 1973
*Schneur Zalman of Liadi.
LIKUTEI AMARIM. (TANYA) vol 2: Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah.
translated by Rabbi Nisan Mangel, M. A.
Brooklyn: Kehot Publication Society, 1976
*Schocket, Rabbi Jacob Immanuel. “Mystical Concepts in Chassidism,” in
Schneur Zalman of Liadi. LIKUTEI AMARIM - TANYA (BILINGUAL EDITION)
Brooklyn: Kehot Publication Soc., 1973
*Scholem, Gershom. KABBALAH.
Jerusalem/New York: Keter Publishing House/New York Times Books, 1974
________________. ORIGINS OF THE KABBALAH.
translated by Allan Arkush; edited by R. J. Zwi Werblowsky.
Jewish Publication Society / Princeton University Press, 1987
*Simon, Maurice; Sperling, Harry; and Levertoff, Paul P. THE ZOHAR.
New York: Rebecca Bennet Publications, n.d.
Tishby, Isaiah; and Lachower, Fischel. THE WISDOM OF THE ZOHAR.
translated by David Goldstein.
[THE LITTMAN LIBRARY OF JEWISH CIVILIZATION]
Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 1989
Work of the Chariot. #3: BOOK OF ENOCH.
Los Angeles: Work of the Chariot, 1970
*________________. #6: TREE OF LIFE. (2nd edition)
Los Angeles: Work of the Chariot, 1970
______________________________
* Titles marked with an asterisk are books from the original (1984) bibliography in Collected Articles on the Kabbalah, page 11.
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APPENDIX
CHARTING NEARNESS / DOCUMENT #3 – GREAT TREE
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THE BOOK OF DEVIATIONS

Transcription

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